“That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
Colossians 1:10 KJV
Good Morning and Happy Monday! What good news do you have to share today? I had a productive and restful weekend. I was able to spend time with my friends at the gym, and catch up on a little work at home. I can’t wait to hear about your “something good!”
Do you ever find yourself doing God’s work because you “have to?” You know, when you are so busy or there’s something else you want to do, but you feel obligated to help at church or something else that you may have made a commitment to do, or even worse, something God has called you to do. I once felt called to speak to a homeless man at church. Every week he showed up, and it never seemed to be the right time. I found out a couple of weeks ago that he was in jail for failure to register as a child sexual predator. Interestingly, I never had that gut feeling when I was around him. Now, it is probably too late, and I may never have another opportunity with this individual. Would I have made a difference? Who knows.
This morning I’m reminded of the parable of the prodigal son. The older son stayed home and worked with his father, while the younger son sewed his wild oats. However, the older son had a bitter and jealous heart. He failed to realize that he had his father every day. People are always more important and special than things. When the younger son came home and the father celebrated, the older son was bitter.
Colossians 1:10 reminds us how important our attitude is to God. When we are going through our routines to check actions off our todo list, but don’t have the right attitude in our hearts, God knows. The same thing happens when we are taking action to get attention and be in the spotlight. However, it is deeply satisfying to us and God when our actions emanate from our soul. Serving God is pleasing unto Him, when we have the right attitude.
Have a wonderful Monday and keep a positive attitude in everything you do. May God bless you.
God works in mysterious ways. As I grew closer to God, studying His word and taking theology classes, he opened opportunities for me. It’s funny how we think it’s our idea, but it is Him working in our lives. While many adventures were and still are awaiting, one of the opportunities was to write articles for a local newspaper about businesses in our city. I would be interviewing some of the same people who had spoken to me with strong language, contempt and anger. These were the same people who had spread untrue rumors in the community.
commonplace. What can we do to ease pain in a situation like this? Of course, we can offer our services to help with cleanup. We can feed people who are hungry. We can assist with finding places for homeless. We can invite people to church and share God’s love. Is there anything more?
or bring them down”. People can detect your kindness and attitude by looking at your face and body movements. They can even detect it in your voice over the telephone.
about 8 pm. Nothing was open but one convenience store surrounded by police cars. I had forgotten about the curfew, which I was violating. It felt like a police state. Sunday I couldn’t make or receive calls, or use the Internet. In fact, we are not supposed to have service until November 29th. I also cannot receive my medication that is delivered by FedEx. In my frustration I went to town hoping for a signal. Then, it hit me. The town I have spent more than 20 years trying to improve is devastated. Someone told me of a neighbor who was trying clean up his yard and perished because a tree fell on him. I also was informed that a young woman whom I knew died from suicide last week. My heart was heavy. All I could do was cry.
contemplative prayer. Essentially, you quiet your thoughts and listen. Does this take practice? Yes, but man is it ever worth it! Just trying to listen to God without making petitions is so rewarding.
up and preparing for the storm. Our town is about 60 – 70 miles inland and we have seen many category 2 hurricanes. The biggest threat our area has is flooding and tornadoes from the feeder bands. This may sound mild, but tornadoes have caused severe damage in the past. Often Floridians become complacent because hurricanes are unpredictable and common. Over the years I’ve seen hurricanes change directions many times. Even with today’s technology, it’s easy to fail to prepare.
upcoming storm. Our son-in-law is in the National Guard but was called to work in a local prison. This morning my supervisor, the City Manager of our town, asked me to notify my staff that they should stay home on Thursday. This action caught my attention because he is very mindful of good management. The radar images are a little frightening, but also fascinating. It’s amazing to watch science advancements. We even had a discussion about how it must have been for people years ago when hurricanes couldn’t be predicted. One way we can use our gifts to change the world today is to be strong and trust God.
white. Visibility was less than two feet. Repeatedly we heard and felt objects pivoting out of control into our home. There was a loud roar like a jet flying over as the eye-wall passed. The windows and doors shook. We closed all doors internal to our home and sheltered inside, first an internal hall and later a closet, all the while trying to keep Landon feeling safe and not afraid. During the eye of the storm, we ventured out to see what seemed like horrible destruction. Then, we hurried in to safety and rode out the back eye-wall. The second two hours was just as bad as the first. Our next trip outside seemed like total devastation.
particular that was once majestic is now a twig. Our fence was destroyed. The really cool thing was my husband’s grill didn’t budge, there was only one limb on our roof and trees down were as close as 6 inches to our home, but we were safe. God is so good.
from one of the vehicles. It sounded like a good idea, but modern vehicles are made to prevent such things, probably due to theft. We finally decided to try to find fuel for the generator despite apparent dangers. That’s when we discovered we were totally blocked in. We were able to maneuver around all trees on our road. Then we carefully traveled around downed trees, spaghetti power lines and downed poles on the highways to drive about an hour north. There we found long lines for fuel, when it was available. In a society where cash was rarely needed, now credit cards were no good. No cash means no gas. We thankfully live next door to my husband’s parents who gave us cash to purchase fuel. This small task took more than four hours and placed us in position of maneuvering the same obstacles at night and after curfew. If we were not allowed to return home, where would we go? What would happen to our pets? At times like these patience is important and that’s when it’s the toughest.
